The Christian Right's war on science and evolution is bearing fruit: a number of Imax theaters, even those in science museums, are refusing to run movies that even mention evolution. Why? They are afraid of a backlash from right-wing Christians disturbed at how scientific fact contradicts their religious beliefs.

The New York Times reports:

People who follow trends at commercial and institutional Imax theaters say that in recent years, religious controversy has adversely affected the distribution of a number of films, including "Cosmic Voyage," which depicts the universe in dimensions running from the scale of subatomic particles to clusters of galaxies; "Galápagos," about the islands where Darwin theorized about evolution; and "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," an underwater epic about the bizarre creatures that flourish in the hot, sulfurous emanations from vents in the ocean floor.

"Volcanoes," released in 2003 and sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and Rutgers University, has been turned down at about a dozen science centers, mostly in the South, said Dr. Richard Lutz, the Rutgers oceanographer who was chief scientist for the film. He said theater officials rejected the film because of its brief references to evolution, in particular to the possibility that life on Earth originated at the undersea vents.

Carol Murray, director of marketing for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, said the museum decided not to offer the movie after showing it to a sample audience, a practice often followed by managers of Imax theaters. Ms. Murray said 137 people participated in the survey, and while some thought it was well done, "some people said it was blasphemous." In their written comments, she explained, they made statements like "I really hate it when the theory of evolution is presented as fact," or "I don't agree with their presentation of human existence."

There aren't many theaters refusing the films, but the number of Imax theaters is so small that it only takes a few to make a big impact. It's not a coincidence that most of the theaters with problems are those in the South — that's where students are more likely to have evolution ignored in school science classes, for example. Conservative Christians in America are damaging science and damaging America's future in their "values" crusade against reality.

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